Revelation 21:11

“With the dazzling splendour of God,” cf. on Revelation 21:3; Ezekiel 43:5; Isaiah 60:1-2. Uxor splendet radiis mariti; δόξα, here, as usually in a apocalyptic literature, denotes the manifestation and realisation of the divine presence. A realistic turn is given to the expression by the “shimmering radiance” of ὁ φωστήρ κ. τ. λ. (asyndeton); “her brilliance is like a very precious stone, a jasper, crystal-clear” (i.e., transparent and gleaming as rock-crystal). The modern jasper is an opaque tinted quartz, only partially translucent at the edges. Perhaps, in reproducing Isaiah 54:11-12 (καὶ θήσω τὰς ἐπάλξεις σου ἴασπιν καὶ τὰς πύλας σου λίθους κρυστάλλου), the writer regarded both clauses as complementary (Cheyne); hence is ὡς λ. ἰ. κ. Otherwise ἴασπις might represent an opal, a diamond, or a topaz, any one of which answers better to the description of “transparent and valuable”. Flinders Petrie, however, suggests some variety of the dark green jasper.